The track and soccer field at Cristo Rey St. Viator College Prepatory in North Las Vegas, Wednesday, April 21, 2021.
Tuesday, April 27, 2021 | 2 a.m.
When Cristo Rey St. Viator soccer players arrived at the field for their final game of the season, they noticed something different.
Classmates had created signs of encouragement and attached them to the field’s fence. They stood from a distance — outside school grounds because of the pandemic — cheering.
Win or lose, the school spirit gave officials at the second-year high school a reason to smile, dean Chris Zunno said.
The soccer team’s recently completed nine-game season was the North Las Vegas Catholic school’s first attempt at fielding an athletic team. The school has just 155 students, only freshmen and sophomores, and is still trying to forge an identity.
Taking pride in a sports team was a positive step, especially with students learning remotely for some of their school tenure because of the pandemic.
“It sent a fresh sense of school spirit throughout the student body,” said Zunno, who is also the athletic director. “Even someone in the faculty commented to me that this is ‘something for us to rally around.’”
The Cristo Rey Royals are an associate member of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, meaning it can field a team and compete against other members. After two years, they can petition to be a full member, where they’ll be assigned to the class 3A for schools with 461-1,300 students and be eligible for the postseason events.
They intend to field teams in basketball, cross country, soccer, track and volleyball. A girls soccer team was also expected to debut in March but didn’t have enough players.
“One of the biggest challenges is getting the kids out there to play,” Zunno said. “The fact that we have a sports program, and it was successful, that is going to drive some kids to get involved.”
Cristo Rey finished with a 6-3 record in playing a mostly junior varsity schedule. The school won’t have a senior class until the fall of 2022.
Along the way, a star was born in sophomore striker Enrique Reyes-Avila, who scored a team-high 24 goals. In the first game, he had eight goals against Mater Academy East.
When Reyes-Avila told classmates the next day of the result, “I felt like most of them were in shock. Eight goals in one game? They couldn’t believe it.”
Reyes-Avila plays in a club league year-round. Most of his teammates were recreational players — some new to the sport. For as good as he was in scoring goals, assistant coach Luigi De Col raves about how Reyes-Avila helped bring along other players in practice.
The teammates made noticeable improvements in about two months, which exceeded the expectations of officials when launching the season. They feared lopsided defeats and students losing interest.
“Our practices were geared for the purpose of getting the other guys up to speed,” De Col said. “A lot of foundation stuff, like how to turn your body to receive a pass that is second nature to club players.”
Cristo Rey is competing in boys and girls track in the spring season. It also has a brand-new gym, which resembles an auxiliary gym at one of Las Vegas’ bigger high schools, and is part of Under Armour’s “Women of Will” initiative. That program provides a support system to inspire female athletes.
But there will be some noticeable roadblocks — like players unable to compete because of employment.
The Cristo Rey model involves students in the classroom four days a week. On the fifth day, it’s work study in industries such as law firms, utility companies, gaming corporations and nonprofits.
The companies pay the school $34,000 for every four students who work for them, which is in-turn used by the school to offset tuition. Most of the Cristo Rey families have limited economic means.
Students won’t be able, under any circumstance, to miss work-study for athletics, Zunno said. That could mean a loss of practice and even games.
“We want to be competitive, but there are some restraints that will hinder us a little,” Zunno said. “You might have a 3:30 p.m. game but can’t leave work until 4:30.”
The end goal is to use athletics to enhance the high school experience while continuing with the school’s faith-based mission of becoming “men and women of faith, purpose and service.” There will surely be plenty of highs and lows along the way as programs get up and running, but none more difficult than what the soccer team endured at the end of the season when coach Martin Serrano suddenly died.
Players learned of his passing when arriving at school, and had a game later in the day in Mesquite against Virgin Valley. Officials after counseling the children intended to cancel the game. Then, the players spoke up.
“It was pretty hard the day we found out,” Reyes-Avila said. “He was a great guy, always funny and always there for us. We felt like we wanted to go out there and try our best no matter what.”
They dedicated the game to their coach, and ended up losing, 10-1. Yet, simply playing brought them together and further established the foundation for future years at the school, De Col said.
“It was really a beautiful moment in solidarity,” De Col said. “I could talk all day about the pride I had in telling the boys that he was watching.”
